Visit to the bogside murals

On Saturday September 26, some of the internationals and I went to visit the bogside murals. These are political murals that depict the Northern Ireland Troubles from the late 1960s to the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement in 1998. Although we can now speak about peace in Northern Ireland, the scars and the impacts of the violence that took place only a decade or two ago are still very tangible. The Bogside is an area of Londonderry, where the majority of the population is Catholic/Nationalist. This area was where the civil rights march took place as well as the disastrous events known as Bloody Sunday.

Finally leaving Strand road, Derry’s main street which I used almost exclusively to travel from the student village to the city center, we entered a different area of the city. The bogside is simply a more rural area within Derry, but the atmosphere is what is most striking. It is hard to explain, but I could not help to feel the weight of history over me as we walked from mural to mural and then to the different memorials.

Chacune des murales contient sa propre histoire. Elles sont des fenêtres sur une partie du conflit afin qu’on ne puisse oublier les événements. Elles sont aussi un mode de guérison pour la population. Deux murales m’ont particulièrement touché. La première met en scène une jeune fille dans son uniforme scolaire.  Elle représente une jeune fille qui fut tué lors des violences en allant chercher du lait. Malgré la tragédie de l’histoire, la murale à depuis évolué afin de démontrer l’avancement du processus de paix. Auparavant, le papillon ainsi que les couleurs de la murale étaient fades et grises et le fusil droit et noir. Maintenant que les événements et les actions des différents partis sont pacifiques, les artistes ont modifiés la murales avec des couleurs plus vives alors que le fusil est brisé. C’est selon moi un signe d’espoir de la part de la communauté qui supporte cette transition vers la collaboration et la paix. 

The mural depicting a peace dove is another of my favourite. Again it depicts hope and transformation inside the conflict. Because it one thing to have a peace agreement in place which limits the physical violence, but that in itself does very little to truly transform and pacify a conflict. Once a process is in place, it must be implemented and communities must find way to heal and move forward. This is often the most difficult aspect of peace making. I find that all of these murals are a way for the community to heal. In particular the peace dove mural, not only for its obvious connotation, but because it was created collectively with members of both sides of the divide a clear demonstration of advancement and transformation.

Visiting the murals has given me great insight into the events for the bogside’s perspective. Since there are always many sides to a story I am planning a visit in the coming weeks to the Waterside murals which depict the troubles from the Protestant perspective.